


A Father's Pride

by OTPshipper98



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Background Albus/Scorpius, Bisexual Draco Malfoy, Cinnamon Roll Scorpius Malfoy, Coming Out, Crying, Dad Jokes, Demisexual Draco Malfoy, Draco Malfoy is a Good Parent, Draco never grew out of his love for badges, Draco's shirt is a trans dad joke and I'm not sorry and neither is he, Fluff, Gen, Happy Ending, If you wanted to cry about Draco and Scorpius having a great relationship this fic is for you, Intersex Scorpius, Klinefelter Syndrome, Mentions of Hormonal Therapy, Minor Character Death (Astoria), genderqueer Scorpius
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-01
Updated: 2020-04-01
Packaged: 2021-03-01 05:34:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,096
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23220085
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OTPshipper98/pseuds/OTPshipper98
Summary: “Hi there,” his dad said gently. Then, when Scorpius didn’t reply, “Is everything okay?”“Y...Yeah. I just—I need to talk to you about something.”Upon hitting puberty, Scorpius finds out his body isn't quite developing as expected. Testosterone potions will help mitigate some of the symptoms, they say. This doesn't make him any less of a boy, they say. But Scorpius doesn't feel reassured; doesn't feel like hewantsto be a boy anymore.Now he just needs to tell his dad.Or: Draco Malfoy loves badges and dad jokes. But, above all else, Draco Malfoy loves his kid.
Relationships: Draco Malfoy & Scorpius Malfoy
Comments: 46
Kudos: 238
Collections: HP TransFest 2020





	A Father's Pride

**Author's Note:**

> I originally claimed prompt 14, _"Draw a character you headcanon as trans using only your non-dominant hand. Coloring optional but fun,"_ because I didn't know if I'd be able to write a fic for the fest. But then I started planning my fanart, and I got so excited by all my headcanons for it that I just _had_ to write the story! 
> 
> About the fanart: I drew and coloured everything with my non-dominant hand except for the words on Draco's shirt (I tried. I really tried.) Also, they're at the Pride Parade, I just didn't trust myself to draw a background with my non-dominant hand XD
> 
> About the fic: the story takes place before the scene in the fanart. Thank you _so much_ to TheLightFury for betaing and to Secretlycrazyhummingbird for sensitivity-reading! Your comments on the fic made me emotional :') 
> 
> **Before you read:** please, be careful reading this fic if you're sensitive to the topic of being scared of coming out. Scorpius suffers quite a bit at the beginning of the fic because of the fear he'll disappoint Draco, but it gets better really fast, I promise!

***

_“Does this mean I’m not really a boy?”_

_“Of course not! Nothing will change who you are, son. Not this; not anything.”_

His father had squeezed his hand, smiling at him. The Healers, too, had smiled reassuringly, nodding at his father’s words.

He hadn’t felt reassured.

He’d felt confused, and scared, and—and _hopeful_ , and then terrified because the idea of not being a boy shouldn’t have brought him _hope_ , of all things.

Of course, he’d told Albus all about it as soon as they were back at Hogwarts.

_“Scorp, look at this,” Albus murmured. “It says here that some transgender people don’t identify with a binary gender.” He buried his head further into the book to read the small footnote at the bottom of the page in the dim light of their Lumos. “Wow.”_

_“What?”_

_“This person here”—Albus pointed at a picture in the corner—“says that he uses ‘they’ and ‘them’ as singular pronouns because he—er, well,_ they _—don’t think ‘he’ or ‘she’ are right for them. They identify as…genderqueer.” He raised his head from the book. Looked Scorpius in the eye. “Do you think that’s what you are? Intersex_ and _genderqueer?”_

Scorpius hadn’t known at the time if the thrill running through his body had been from the discovery or, as per usual, from the deep green of Albus’ eyes.

He knew better now, though. He knew that thrill had been different; that Albus had been spot on.

That he had to tell his dad. 

He sighed, pressing his forehead against the doorframe. He’d been putting it off for too long. Realistically, he knew he’d keep on putting it off if he could—but their next appointment at St Mungo’s was the following morning and they were going to discuss hormonal therapy, and the idea of his dad telling him once again that this wouldn’t change the fact that he was a boy made him want to cry. 

He had to do it. He knew what he wanted to say. Pushing himself back to his feet, he took one last second to shake off his nerves and then knocked on his dad’s office door.

“Come in.” 

Scorpius kept his eyes carefully trained on the Potions reports scattered over his dad’s desk as he approached him. He felt the moment his dad’s gaze left the paper in front of him and rested on him instead, but he didn’t look up—couldn’t look up. 

“Hi there,” his dad said gently. Then, when Scorpius didn’t reply, “Is everything okay?”

“Y...Yeah. I just—I need to talk to you about something.”

“Okay.” 

Scorpius shuddered at the concern in his dad’s voice. He didn’t want to upset him, or to disappoint him, or to…to somehow be wrong and have his dad think less of him for even contemplating the idea of being a different gender.

He took in a shaky breath. He knew that wasn’t going to happen. He knew his dad would never hate him. Still, his legs quivered as he sat down on the chair his dad had conjured beside him and gripped the sides for something to hold on to. 

“Scorpius,” his dad said after a moment, leaning forward and resting a hand on his knee. When he didn’t continue, Scorpius finally looked up and met his steady gaze. “Whatever it is, you can tell me.”

Tears pricked in Scorpius’ eyes and he had to blink them away as he tried to find the words. The courage to say them out loud.

“You…you know how we have to go back to St Mungo’s tomorrow? To discuss hormonal therapy methods.” He felt more than saw his dad’s slow nod. “I-I was just wondering if we could…if we could maybe—” 

His voice broke, and he had to gasp for air as tears started to roll down his cheeks. 

So much for saying the words out loud. 

“Oh, Scorp.” His dad was suddenly towering over him, pulling Scorpius to his feet—pulling him into his strong embrace. “Come here, kid,” he murmured, his voice so soothing Scorpius sobbed again. “I’m here. It’s okay. I’m here.”

Scorpius cried, and cried, and cried, and couldn’t for the life of him stop for a good five minutes. When he could finally breathe through his hiccups, he buried his face in his dad’s chest, sinking into the safety of his scent and his tight embrace for another few seconds, before turning his face to the side again so he could wipe his face with his sleeve. 

“You don’t want hormonal therapy?” his dad asked him after a moment—voice low, arms still holding Scorpius close to him.

Scorpius shook his head.

“I just—I’m not sure…” The knot inside his throat tightened. “I’m not sure of what I want.”

“And that’s okay, son. I would never expect you to have it all figured out. They’ll explain all of your options tomorrow, and you’ll have all the time you need to decide what you want, and to try things out and decide they’re not for you, okay? I’ll never, ever ask you to do anything you don’t want to.”

“When you s-say all the options,” Scorpius murmured, “do you mean _all_ the options? Or just the—the ones for boys?”

In the beat of silence that followed, Scorpius held his breath.

“You mean as in…?” 

“As in, th-the Healers said there were ways to make my body grow up like any boys’, and to make my chest look flat and eventually _be_ flat like any boys’, but…I’m—I’m just not sure I’m unhappy with my chest? At least not right now, I don’t know if it grew any bigger—a-and I’m not sure I want to be like other boys.” He swallowed. “Or to…to be a boy.

“And it’s not because of the Klinefelter syndrome, or anything—I know you said that didn’t make me any less of a boy, and I know that’s true—but learning all of this, that I’m different, that my hormones and my body are different, just had me thinking that maybe I've…I've never really been that much of a boy to begin with? A-And Albus and I have been researching, and we came across this term, genderqueer, which some people who don’t feel like they’re boys _or_ girls use, and I think it could…well. Fit? For me? No,” he corrected himself. “I don’t think it fits for me, I _know_ it does. It—it fits so well I cried the night we found it. It feels so _me_ that even though I still know next to nothing about what it means for me, it made me realise I don’t want to be called a boy ever again.” 

It wasn't until he'd stopped gibbering that Scorpius noticed the air of certainty in his own voice. 

For a few moments, his dad just stroked his hair as Scorpius tried to steady his breathing. Then he took a step back and held Scorpius by the shoulders—murmured, “Let’s do your breathing exercise together,” and, a few moments later, as they breathed in and out in slow unison, “Thank you for telling me.”

“You’re not sad?” Scorpius’ voice only shook slightly. “O—Or disappointed?” 

“I’m not sad or disappointed,” his dad said with a smile. “I’m a little bit surprised, I must admit. I was sure you were going to tell me you liked Albus.”

“ _Dad_ ,” Scorpius groaned—looking away, chuckling. “You don’t need me to tell you _that_.”

“I know, I know,” his dad laughed. “I just hope you know you can talk with me about it whenever you want to.”

“I knooow.” Scorpius smiled back at him, feeling calmer—feeling lighter. “Thanks, Dad.”

“Always, son. Or—wait. I should probably not call you that.”

“It’s—It’s okay. I mean…I’m still figuring all of this out. The book Albus and I found in the library about non-binary identities had all these big things to consider, I…honestly still don’t know where to start.” 

“That’s okay, kid. I’m…a bit overwhelmed, I must admit, so I can only imagine what this must be like for you. But there’s time. _We_ have time. I just…I don’t want you to think that you need to do this alone. Just know that as long as you want me there, I’ll be there to help.”

Scorpius nodded, looking away so he wouldn’t burst into tears again. 

“Maybe…maybe you could just call me ‘kid’ for now, then? And skip the ‘son’. I…think I would really like that.” 

“Then I can absolutely do that.” His dad smirked. “Though I’m not sure you’ll be very happy about me calling you my kid when you’re older…It’s been a long time, but I seem to recall teenagers have an aversion for such words. You may have to come up with a new one before your birthday.”

“Don’t be silly. I’ll always be proud to call myself your kid, Dad.” 

His dad’s expression wavered with his next exhale, and Scorpius knew. He knew his dad, too, was scared sometimes; scared that Scorpius would realise one day that he was a bad person—had been, when he was younger—and would no longer love him. So he repeated his words with more conviction, said, “I’ll _always_ be proud to have you as my father,” and stepped back into his dad’s embrace, sinking gladly into his crushing hug. 

“And I’ll always, always be proud to have you as my child. Always,” his dad said, voice muffled. “You’re the smartest, and kindest, and most wonderful kid I could have ever asked for. And nothing about you that you, or your Healers, or _anyone_ could ever tell me will ever change the fact that I love you. Okay?” 

“Okay,” Scorpius half-laughed, half-choked out into his dad’s chest. 

They stood like that for a moment, holding on to one another, swaying softly from side to side. When they stepped back, a thought at the back of Scorpius’ mind came flooding forward. 

“Dad?”

“Hmm?” 

“Do you think…mum would have understood, too? About my gender?”

“Oh, kiddo.” A sad smile took over his dad’s face. “I think she'd have spoiled you rotten for a month after you told her.”

“Pfft, no way,” Scorpius laughed. “She was always the one saying you couldn’t just give me sweets whenever she had her back to us!”

“Oh, I haven’t forgotten about that. But in this case she would have, trust me on that.” His dad smiled wistfully to himself. “I can imagine her painting your whole bedroom the colours of the—genderqueer, was it? The colours of the genderqueer flag, and getting excited over hairstyles, and wanting to read every book on the subject with you…taking you to the Pride parade in town…” 

“Maybe you and I could do all those things together,” Scorpius murmured, a lump in his throat. “Paint my room…figure out how to style my hair once I let it grow, go to pride… You could even make some badges for us to wear. I know you love badges.”

His dad chuckled.

“That I do,” he said, ruffling Scorpius’ hair. “And I would love to share all those things with you. Starting tomorrow morning,” he added with a smirk. “Now it’s bedtime for you, I believe. Unless you need to talk with me about anything else.”

“If I say yes, will you let me stay up a little bit longer?” When his dad just shook his head through a cackle, Scorpius admitted defeat with a groan. “Okaaay. I’ll get ready for bed now.”

His dad held him around the shoulders, squeezed him for a moment before walking him to the door. Gave him a kiss on the head, holding on to him a moment longer. 

“All I want is for you to be happy,” his dad murmured.

Unsurprisingly, Scorpius felt tears pricking in his eyes. He hugged his dad back, saying, “I know, Dad. I-I feel really happy right now.” And, after a moment, “I want you to be happy too, you know. You deserve it.”

His dad just chuckled wetly, bit his lip.

“So if you ever meet anyone you like, just know I’ll be happy for you, okay? As long as they treat you well, of course!” 

“Oh, kid.” His dad pressed a hand to his shoulder, pushed him gently through the door. “Off to bed with you now, otherwise I’ll be the one crying. Again.” 

Scorpius smiled up at him—yawned. 

“G’night, Dad.” 

“Sleep well, kid.” 

**Author's Note:**

> If you want to learn more about Klinefelter Syndrome, I recommend checking out [Living with XXY](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3NYQzU1bjh1laANag0Pz0w) on Youtube! 
> 
> At the time of this scene, Scorpius still has a lot to figure out and hasn't had time to consider how he feels about pronouns, but my headcanon is that he later on decides he doesn't mind which pronouns people use for him (he/she/they).


End file.
